


Daddy's Little Girl

by mylove



Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Gen, Genderbend, Rule 63, Starring Anna Kendrick as Tonia Stark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-01
Updated: 2013-08-01
Packaged: 2017-12-22 01:22:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/907224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mylove/pseuds/mylove
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Because even after all her failures at one of the things she wanted most, Toni doesn’t give up on even the most distant figure in her life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Daddy's Little Girl

**Author's Note:**

> A drabble written for my RP character, a rule 63 Tony Stark.

Toni remembers tugging on pant legs. Chasing after those very same legs ‘cause she was so short it was the first thing she saw. She remembers trying to cling to one once. Bad idea. 

Toni remembers being pulled up into her mothers lap, her gentle voice telling her Daddy was just busy. But it wasn’t like it mattered. She just couldn’t get his attention and that was all she cared about. And Maria would try to get her to forget, softly running her fingers through Toni’s hair despite all the tangles. Toni’d be damned if she ever ran a brush through it on her own. Then again she was just a little kid. 

But she was a smart kid. A damn smart kid. 

When she felt more comfortable playing with tools than with dolls. When she did things with circuits a little girl wouldn’t be expected to do. When she excelled in academics far beyond the boys in her class. 

She thought for sure that would be enough. Toni was damn near jumping up and down waving her arms as she accomplished things beyond her years and expectations of her gender. She was close to screaming at the top of her lungs. 

It was never enough.

No response beyond a simple gesture of congratulations. Just looking at the lack of caring in his face made her heart break. Each summer she’d come home from boarding school with more and more under belt and Maria would sing her praises. But that she was used to. She just wanted Howard to care.

He was a static figure in her life. Never changing. Never budging. And for once, Toni couldn’t get what she wanted. She could manipulate and sweet talk her way into getting what she desired from Maria. Well, most times anyway. 

But she couldn’t get this one thing. 

And when she went off to MIT she was too far away to try. She couldn’t get him on the phone when she called home. Nothing but a hello in the background. She was frustrated, but hurt. And she didn’t really have anyone to talk to. Except for Rhodey.

So maybe she just didn’t want to talk about it. 

Then she got a shiny diploma with "Tonia Elizabeth Stark" plastered right on it and she couldn’t help but grin over it. And she clutched it in her hands as Maria took a picture of her and Howard together. Her cap going all askew because the edge of it pressed up against his chest. It’s a picture she still has to this day. 

After graduating Toni didn’t quite chase after her fathers pant legs. That’s not to say she didn’t try to get his attention. But it seemed to her that it would never work despite her efforts. 

Because Daddy’s Little Girl really wasn’t Daddy’s Little Girl. 

And that hurt. 

Toni keeps a box or two of various things that belonged to her parents. Their wedding rings are in a box locked in a safe. Some of her mothers shoes and dresses stay wrapped in plastic garment bags alongside one of her fathers jackets in her closet. Whatever pictures she has are framed where mostly only she can see. 

Because even after all her failures at one of the things she wanted most, Toni doesn’t give up on even the most distant figure in her life.


End file.
